Bonde De Christmas at Mr Wolfs

I played an acoustic gig at Mr Wolfs noodle bar in Bristol last night.

Bristol is only a short way from where I live now but it still feels like an adventure whenever I go there. I think it's because I don't really know where anything is in relation to anything else there so it always feels like I'm lost in some foreign land or something.

The other thing about Bristol is that the streets all seem smaller and the buildings much taller then in Bath. It's a dominating city.

Mr Wolfs is a great little venue. It combines scuzzy and fresh in equal measures which I've decided is how a live music venue should be. Dirty enough to keep posh, middle age twats out but clean enough that you can enjoy the music and the environment without worrying for your health.

And they serve great noodles. I experienced a slightly peculiar feeling of ease last night, perched at the bar, drinking an ice cold beer, slurping down some spicy beef noodles and semi listening to one of the other acts on the bill. It's a feeling you should try to experience by visiting Mr Wolfs and slurping down some noodles of your own. Of course, you have to use chopsticks to really capture the right effect.

I played for 45 minutes which is one of the longest sets I have played in a long time. I was worried that my voice would give or I would make some terrible mistake because I really haven't been practising as much as I should recently, but my set actually went really well.

My only criticism is that I don't feel I invested my performance with as much emotion as I would normally try to but I think this is something that becomes harder to do when playing sets of longer duration. I'm afraid that it may also be a side effect of me doing the same thing for too long now and needing to find a new musical challenge.

My next acoustic gig is on the 27th of January at The Porter in Bath.

The Changing Of The Bard

On Sunday night we went to Back To Mine to see the changing of the Bard of Bath.

I was keen to go - live music, poetry, a relaxing Sunday evening - perfect.

A few other people obviously had the same idea and the club was actually quite busy with a really good atmosphere. I was kind of expecting only a handful of creative writing students and a few stuffy old poetry enthusiasts to be in attendance but thankfully I was wrong.

I think the attendance and the atmosphere prove that poetry and spoken word are still hugely relevant to peoples lives today. Poetry is cutting edge and something that we should be seeing more of on the streets, in our pubs and clubs and in the media.

Highlight of the evening for me had to be the Bard of Glastonbury. Excellent, honest, intelligent and funny in just the right places.

In other news, I have (or will shortly be) uploading a new track to my Tapper myspace profile. The new track is called The Promise.

Drip Drip Drip

Ages ago I was becoming obsessed with a 'drip drip' theory. The idea is that success will come from the things that take a little amount of effort, regularly, with no gratification, and over long periods of time. Like posting on this blog for example.

I was reminded of this theory the other day when looking at the number of hits and the number of song plays my myspace page has been receiving. It isn't a huge amount but I consider it to mean something. That just through the page existing, people are looking at the content, reading the blogs and listening to the music. As I gradually get my act together and get the page completely up and running (photos, music, videos etc), I am expecting the page to become a bigger success.

I guess this answers my question from a few weeks ago - Do people still use myspace? Yes they do.

Self Portraits

Been taking some self portraits recently.

Over the last year I've become increasingly interested in portrait photography and have been really pleased with some of the shots I have taken - of course, they have all been of other people with me behind the camera.

Taking self portraits without the aid of anybody else is a completely different ball game. Just focusing and framing a shot becomes a real challenge.

The hardest bit of the process eventually becomes evident through sharp pains in your knees. Constantly ducking down to view your last shot, setting up the next, then dashing back across the room to get into position before the timer takes the shot is a type of physical activeness I'm not really used too.

In the end, the shots actually turned out pretty good - the other limiting factor for the shoot was the poor availability of light but hey ho - I think I will post the results here soon as they actually have a certain professional quality to them. Professional in a very 90s way though.

This weekend I am completely focused on recording some new work for the Tapper project. I'm also planning on doing some work on the myspace which at the moment, is really just the bare bones of a profile and says nothing about the music that will be hosted there.

Some kind of focus is exactly what I need at the moment - today has not been a very inspiring day - but I'm starting to feel motivated about the weekend.

Tapper

The Tapper project is still ticking along nicely. I had a practice yesterday and I became excited all over again when imagining what these songs will be like when I eventually perform them live on stage.

The sound of the project is still changing, but currently is lingering somewhere between new-romantic synth pop, indie electro, and atmospheric dance. Sound interesting?

I've been incredibly busy recently with one thing or another so haven't really been able to devote as much time to the music as I would like to. I'm hoping that over the next few weeks, I should get some time to record some more as I have another song pretty much finished, and I want to get a demo of it up on myspace.

My thoughts are also shifting to my next acoustic gig - the 28th of December at Mr Wolfs Noodle Bar in Bristol. This is currently the last acoustic gig I have booked, however, after the last show I played, I've decided to try and book a few more since I had so much fun performing. Perhaps when the Tapper project is off the ground then I will feel differently.

Song writing with my new band is also coming along nicely. I feel that my electric guitar playing has already noticeably improved in the short time I've been in the band - playing with other musicians really is the best way to develop.

My Music

I'm writing an essay at the moment that discusses my music - my own creative practice.

It's interesting that I'm doing this at a time where my creative practice and what I do as a musician is in a state of flux. I'm midway between different genres, different ways of working and different ideas on what music and performance should be about.

I played an acoustic show last night at The Porter. I've said that I will be phasing out my acoustic work now to concentrate on a new musical direction - Tapper - however, after last night, I'm kinda wondering whether that is the direction I want to take.

I know I definitely want to explore some new performance styles and I'm definitely enjoying working on the Tapper project at the moment, but I'm not so sure I want to simply walk away from my acoustic work just yet. Just when I think I've done everything I can with it, it offers something new - it makes me happy.

I guess that's what it's all about. Doing what makes you happy, expressing yourself in the way that seems best at the time. Thinking about things too much, trying to make decisions on what to do, rather than just doing what feels right, can perhaps be the wrong approach.